The Randomness

The news today are really short due to business, but there has been some interesting ones. A few weeks back an expedition launched to search for the famed E.t. Atari game landfill. Quite interestingly, it has been found.

Now, this was one of the urban legends of yore. The cartridges had been buried due to a crash of the video game industry back in 1983, and it fills me with some joy to see that the rumor was true after all. There are a lot of legends going on in the gaming world, which is natural, since we humans like those stories. And this finding was like finding a ton of gold (even though the carts may be not as valuable). So, yes, this was just an F.Y.I. and a great one on top. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

“The real world is much smaller than the world of imagination”Ecce Homo – Friedrich Nietzsche

Fantasy today is becoming more and more popular, fighting the resistance it had had decades ago. Today we have thousands of movies and millions of books coming out. This poses the question though: Why even read Fantasy as a genre? Specially today, when the “serious” people have embraced the banner of the pragmatic and scientific being, we still adhere so much to an apparently “useless” form of literature and entertainment, even though it is more and more popular. Well, to this question I will have to return to one of the first theorists that sat down to reflect on the issue in the 20th century, that is, J.R.R. Tolkien.

But before I start with the quotations, I’d like first to invite you to rethink the word “use”, since today it is linked strongly with the idea of a personal profit and (almost) a professional growth. Today many business minded people just can’t see the allure towards this form of escapist literature, since it does not provide an immediate (monetary) benefit. The “use” of something is thus what evaluates if something is even worth pursuing and/or keeping, which has sadly devolved to a situation in which the distraction has become less engaging and more generic. Even today, when our society has defended a more bleak worldview of “correctness”, imagination and fantasy have flourished against the forces that ask us to reason. But the old professor of Oxford once said, in his famous essay On Fairy-Stories:

“Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy it will make.”

Tolkien defines Fantasy as a normal human feature that has to be nourished to make a perceptive person. This is based on the ground of the three features that the genre has in itself: Recovery, Escape and Consolation. To make the explanation short, each element that should be in a good faerie-story must permit the reader (gamer or watcher) to observe reality with other eyes while resting from the real world and finding pleasure and joy in an ending that satisfies.

Thus escaping into a fantasy realm is in itself not a bad thing, but good and helpful, since it will change our point of view and let us rest of this reality that, at times, seems chaotic and senseless. It is true we can not really leave the real world, but changing your perception on a problem after a moment of rest always will help put things into perspective.

The “use” of Fantasy lies not within the profit we make but the inner healing and the change of perspective. Also, since it is being part of our nature, we always feel drawn to it no matter how some try to drown that feeling of attraction towards the mysterious. Since the beginning we have reveled in our imagination, giving explanations to our surroundings through myth.

Today most of it is reflected through our fascination not only of the fantastic, but also of the beyond and even the horror. Thus, we do not only indulge a whim, but a necessity that drives us to see the magical in our world. In some form or another, no matter how scientific minded we are, we always find interest in the possibilities the world could offer, no matter how exaggerated we may think it is.

The ‘need’ to take this timeout is rarely overcome, and even those who claim they have, enjoy a movie or two around these topics. Claiming we don’t have a use is just a way to express disinterest in a particular theme, which doesn’t mean the person does not need his share of escapism. Fantasy just does it in its own way.

As people today can be Football fans or Hemingway enthusiasts, those who follow the genre of the faerie are passionate about something that permits us lay back for a moment and observe things with other eyes. The downside of our taste, though, is that it has gone trough a depreciation since, at least, the 19th century. Even Tolkien had to refute the fact that the art of creating a good faerie story was, in his time, considered to be exclusively for children, since their stories seemed vain and simplistic.

But specially today, with the growth of the genre and the different media it touches, I think it is something we can’t ignore anymore. It has become more serious and more “grown up”. If not, then why would a series of books, turned into a TV show, become so popular and be able to contain mature topics such as war, poverty, famine, prostitution and other topics?

“Fiction is fiction.”, the introduction to a Quenya dictionary would state, ” But it is driven up to a limit where it takes the opaque, resisting form of a reality.”

One thing is for sure: today’s Fantasy is different from the one in Tolkien’s time, but we owe it not only to his work, but to his adamant defence that we shall enjoy the stories for what they are. The genre is a broad world that makes us imagine and re-imagine. I definitely think that reading, playing and enjoying it is important to us, if only to find solace and boosting our wills and perspectives. It does not need a “use”, it is just natural and it is part of us.

This week’s post is short. Now that the TMNT trailer was released, I have read as of late a lot of discussion, and how bad it is going to be and so on. Thus I think I should weigh in a bit on this.

As for the history: when I first heard about the production of a movie based on some of my favorite characters, I was excited. When I heard it was going to be directed by Michael Bay my mood lowered to a meh. Why not? I liked the first Transformers movie, so something similar to that could happen. When I heard he was going to make them aliens… well, I understood where that came from, but now I was weary of the idea.

When watching the trailer, I thought it looked good. Shredder is cool and although some object to Megan Fox representing April, I didn’t object. She is now part of the Bay entourage, after all, much like Johnny Depp in a Tim Burton movie. Adaptation has its details.

Now, the greater criticism goes to the faces. In all honesty I don’t like those. Even in the older movies, without special effects, the turtles looked much better with the classic snouts. Also, they look way too big. It is like a tank rolling not so silently. The turtles look impressive, no doubt, but originally they were a bit smaller than April. So yes, if they were not really ninja-like before, now they are even less.

And this brings me to the main point: the ninja part. I somehow got the feeling of many commentators that they wanted the turtles to behave like the traditional silent warrior-assassin. But those who return to the “source material”, up to the newer cartoons, will notice that oftentimes the heroes had to enter situations with all guns blazing. For example, int the original comic, when they travel to another planet, they maim and kill recklessly left and right. Yes, they did some ninja-stuff here and there, but at the end the confrontation with the momentary enemy ended up being a flashy display. I always felt the ninja part was just the excuse to have mutants fighting with martial arts on screen. In other words, I love the TMNT because of all these contradictions and absurdities that make a great, crazy story. A masterwork in pulp-fiction.

Will I watch the movie? No. I am just not motivated enough, as much as in Transformers 2 & 3. I just don’t think these kind of movies appeal to me.

Just a little post scriptum though: for those wondering that such “bad movies” keep being made, just check the earnings if those movies. No matter how supposedly bad they are, they still make great profit. As long as the public watches those things, no matter the quality, they will produce them. So, really consider if you want to watch the movie, even though you “know” it will be bad.

Excitement is building up again in the community, as Occulus Rift is appearing, project Morpheus was announced and somehow Microsoft will bud in. It is this new, hyper modern technology, called VR that seems to set the tone of our new expectations of this age. And why not? There has always been this dream of being part of the game instead of being just the external controller…

…or is it?

Many opinions have been circulating around these notions and some ha e been expectant, others quite skeptical. To be part of this discussion, I have listened to these opinions and tried to find some neutral ground on this. Thus I will first analyze the two main camps on this new technology, then move on to some more current perspectives, to then analyze: is this VR and this helmet really for the gaming of the future? So, let us break this down first:

1. The con: this has been tried!

We already had these tries before. The great fail was Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, which not only tried to make VR a reality, but also portable. If you watch AVGN’s review of this though, the flaws were incredible. The pain-inducing red even made watching the review unbearable, and the sheer impractical design just made a generation wait one more day.

This was clearly due to poor technology. Back then VR was a dream of Tron and other Sci-Fi movies, and I feel Nintendo and other companies just rushed to look novel. Some people thus predict it will crash and burn again, not only because of the technology, but because of the practicality; now gaming will require you to wear a helmet for this deeper experience, making a fun afternoon in an adventure, instead of sitting down to relax. I can understand if some people will be against it.

Also, it is being called out as a gimmick, such as the 3D effect in current TVs and the 3DS. While it may be nice, many people end up turning off the effect, since the hassle or just the sickness makes the experience suffer. Development costs will try to create effective and enjoyable titles, but this effect may soon wear off, some reckon.

2. Tomorrow is today: the pros.

On the other hand many people could argue that these problems, especially the dizzy feeling, will subside with more use in time. And this could be true, since the jump to 3D gaming had a similar issue. Today only a few still suffer from ‘motion sickness’, and this is due to the people not getting used to it. A similar effect had happened with the first movie: people ran terrified when they first saw a grainy, black & white train charging towards them. Today, we are barely affected by the grandeur of the Hollywood blockbusters.

Also, the technology is definitely better. Although not totally ripened out, motion control has had a big impact on the market, and 20 years ago we could only dream of that. As an example we have the Power Glove, again from Nintendo, that was terribly inaccurate and difficult to use.

A comedian (I can not remember who) already said that once when the Wii was released. The idea was to create a new way of approaching games, more proactive and participative instead of sitting passively in the couch. The thing is, it never caught on. Let us analyze it by the results. Even though the motion controls have been around us for years, the preferred method is still sitting down. I remember when Zelda’s Twilight Princess had the option to swing the sword or to just use the controller. My friends just sat down. Even I had to get a Game Cube controller to make my experience with said game more enjoyable. The fact is: most people that play games with a regularity different than for party purposes or the casual fun time usually prefer to sit down, taking the second set of controls.

Second is the space issue. Motion gaming failed also because you had to create a space to be able to play. Even I had trouble playing with a Wii when I had to move the sofa and the living room table to be able to play. Now, this may not seem to be an issue to play a game in VR, since for now it is only a visor, but I have already heard the discussion on how to make the game more real, many times portrayed with the treadmill base, as well as other extras that are not only space consuming, but also seemingly very expensive, no matter how much you mass produce it. Even this little joke by College Humor shows how problematic can an apparatus as complicated as the projected VR future be (not safe for work!).

Not only that, it will require much more movement than before. I can not imagine a person preparing himself half an hour to be connected to the apparatus to enjoy a game, especially after a hard day of work. This would be too complicated and not only obese people would suffer it, but also people on the wheelchair and with other kind of capacity problems. This makes gaming thus less playable, or at least less practical form even more public.

The we have to take into account the labels. Have you seen the labels on a 3DS box? Here, let me quote it:

WARNING Viewing of 3D images by children 6 and under may cause vision damage.

Now, I am trying to be an alarmist, but the fact that we have such a label already tells us that the perception of a developing mind is actually affected by the staring at the 3D screens. I can’t imagine what perception issues the VR visor could cause to children, something that remains to be seen. I really hope for it to be harmless, no more than the occasional epilepsy thing, but then again, this new, untested ground.

I see VR as a reality, but not as a game. If we ever get to that exciting technology, I see it most probably as an experience, much of the like of laser gun fights that existed before, or as Paintball nowadays. Another area it could be perfectly used is for training, a thing that happens today with all the flight simulators.

What do I make of this newest craze? I think it will be fun for a while, and sadly some of the production costs will be sunk in games based on the system. But at the end, when the phone rings or the cat topples over the decorations, you will have to learn to play without the new gimmick. The charm of games, especially console gaming, is in its capacity to immerse yourself in a world as quick as you can turn off the machine, to enjoy 10 minutes to hours of game play and being able to drop the game for a quick toilet break, going for popcorn or just a glass of water. The VR will stay a nice extra to gaming, but I don’t think it will replace the experience, since its impracticalities are just too many, and if you don’t see it now, wait until the experience happens. And much like motion control, it will fade for the more practical way, which seems old, but is even today functional.

We may love and buy in into the new technology, but in the end of the day, when the helmet/visor rests heavy on our head, we will remove it and take the controller like always in our hands, enjoying what we have always done: relaxing on the sofa or on the floor and enjoying the virtual world on a screen.

My most recent acquisitions… it’s good to be a gamer! ^^
Anyone has good memories on those games too?

May they smile upon your way!

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Welcome to a blog of gaming, movies, books and some history. In here I explore the stories that have carried us over decades, yes, even centuries, to what defines us today. I hope you enjoy it and comment, I am always open to respond!
This blog is updated whenever possible, once a week.